Combined envelope and lettee sheet



(No Model.)

, COMBINED ENVELOPE AND LETTEE SHEET. No. 299,202 I Patented May 27, 1884.

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INITED dramas Parent rrihm ARTHUR COX, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

COMBINED ENVELOPE AND LETTER- -SHEET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 299,202, dated May 27, 1884.

Application filed February 15, 1883. (No model.)

1'0 aZZ whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ARTHUR Cox, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at the city of Toronto, in the county of York, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented a certain new and useful Combined Envelope and Letter-Sheet, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the invention is to devise a combined envelope and letter-sheet arranged to fold so as to hide the communication from view while leaving the address exposed, provision for fastening the end or ends being made, so that the interior of the folded sheet cannot be examined without tearing off the end; and it consists, essentially, in a'lettersheet having an addressing-space arranged on the same side of the sheet, upon which the communication is written in such a position that when the sheet is folded the address shall appear on the outside, while the communication is entirely hidden from view, the ends being fastened by a gummed seal, and other provisions made for carrying out the object of my invention, as hereinafter more particularly explained.

Figure 1 is a view of the form open. Fig. 2 is a view representing the first fold. Fig. 3 is a view showing the form folded and one end sealed.

My invention has been specially designed with the'view of providing a telegramdbrm by which the address written by the operator when writing the message will be used for direotin g the delivery-boy to the party for whom the telegram is intended. I have therefore chosen the telegram-form in order to explain my invention.

In the drawings, A represents the upper portion of the sheet, upon which is printed the name of the telegraph company and other information usually found on the envelope of a telegraph-message.

B is an addressing-space; O, the space on which the conditions made by the company in accepting the message are printed, and D is the spaceon which the telegram is written.

E are perforations extending from end to end of the sheet near the side edges, as shown.

F is a mark made on the surface of the sheet, as and for the purpose hereinafter explained.

The operator,when he receives the message, writes the address, message, and other particulars as usual on the telegram-form, but in the spaces indicated in Fig. 1. Instead of the proper width of the fold required to hide-6 the communication from view, which in the form illustrated is about two fifths of the length of the entire sheet from the bot-tom edge thereof. The sheet is then turned over and over, producing folds of practically the same width as that first made, which succeeding folds occur at about the points marked F F, when its entire length will be absorbed, it assuming the long and narrow form shown in. Fig. 3, leaving the address exposed on one side, and upon the other the advertisement shown on the space A. The dispatching-clerk then fastens each end by sticking on it the seal G, so that the sheet cannot be unfolded until the end has been torn off. To facilitate this operation the perforations E are provided, which, as indi cated by Fig. 3, enable the ends to be torn off without injuring any portion of the sheet upon which the communication or address is written. A further advantage I may mention will be found in the fact that the liability of making a mistake in the address is lessened, as the only address written is that written by the operator.

I am aware that combined envelopes and letter-sheets perforated and gummed on the side have been made before, but am not aware that a sheet having perforations at the sides and ungummed has ever been provided with a detached adhesive seal adapted to fold over the edges of the folded letter to secure them together in such a manner that when the seal is torn off the edges are torn with it, which I deem an important difference over a sheet having a gummed edge, as the letter-sheet with out the gummed edge can be readily copied in a press, which the gum on the edge would prevent; and also over an ungumlned sheet or en velope provided with a seal to lie fiat over the flap and the body of the envelope, as in unsealing a letter of this class the body would be 5 torn.

WVhat I claim as my invention is A combined envelope and letter-sheet having a row of perforations down each side, and arranged to fold so as to hide the conununica [0 tion from view, in combination with an adhesive seal folded to embrace and adhere to both sides of the letter outside of the perforations when the sheet is folded, whereby the seal may be torn off without injuring the body of the letter, substantially as and for the pur- I 5 pose specified.

ARTHUR COX. \Vitnesses:

CHAS. G. BALDWIN, DONALD O. Rinonr. 

